


A Winter’s Tale

by Ultra



Series: All Our Happy Endings [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas, F/M, Hugs, Kissing, Love, Love Confessions, Snow, Snowball Fight, Storybrooke, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-14
Updated: 2013-09-14
Packaged: 2020-03-06 00:51:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18840268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: A day in the snow in Storybrooke and a reconciliation for Rumpel & Belle.





	A Winter’s Tale

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for roxymoron on LiveJournal, as part of the Rumbelle Exchange, Winter 2013.

Snowfall came to Storybrooke, and for the first time Belle noticed the cold more than the beauty of it. Perhaps it was just the hole in her heart that made her shiver, made her forget how to see the wintry weather as a wonderful gift. She locked up the library with numb fingers and thoughts of going home to her lonely little apartment.

It was her choice to be alone, because things just couldn’t have gone on the way they were. Rumpelstiltskin tried to be better, but he stumbled too often in his attempts. The temptations of power almost always won out. On the occasions when he managed to fight the urge to hide behind magic, it was always for his son, not for Belle. She so wanted to not be jealous, to be stronger, to continue to concentrate only on the good in the man that was once a beast. It was harder than she thought.

Before she quite managed to turn away from the library door and begin walking home, Belle was startled by a cold wet splash against the back of her head. She wheeled around to see a giggling child with her gloved hands over her mouth.

“Grace!” said Belle, laughing in spite of herself.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were Ruby!” the little girl gasped, though she looked more amused than she was apologetic.

Belle had to admit that from the back she and her best friend did look somewhat similar. She then spotted Ruby coming up behind Grace, gesturing for Belle to keep her silence. Just as she was about to dump a whole pile of snow on little Grace’s head, Ruby was completely side-swiped by her boyfriend. They tumbled over and over down the snowy street as Grace laughed heartily and Belle couldn’t help but join in. It was most especially amusing to see Ruby get the upper hand with ease, pinning Jefferson to the ground.

“You think you’re so smart,” she was saying as Belle and Grace came over.

“Maybe this was my plan all along,” he smirked back at her.

“Why would a person want to get pinned down, Daddy?” his daughter rolled her eyes, all innocence apparently.

Belle bit her lip and smiled too wide.

“No reason I can think of,” she said, offering a hand to Ruby to get her up off the pathway.

“You want to come and play with us, Belle?” asked Grace, whilst her father and his girlfriend straightened themselves out, brushing snow from their coats and scarves.

“I’m not sure that...” she stopped abruptly when she glanced to the side and realised Rumpelstiltskin was approaching.

The familiar sound of his feet and cane crunching through the snow, the swish of his coat that she knew so well. It still hurt to come across him in the street like this, not knowing what to say. The cold air was suddenly twice as harsh, and all Belle wanted to do was run, but she wouldn’t. She was better than that.

“Ruby, Jefferson, Grace,” Rumpel greeted each of them.

He was never usually quite that polite, Belle had to think she was trying for her sake. She kept hearing reports of his good behaviour. Everyone said she was the reason, that Rumpel was trying so hard to be what she wanted and deserved in a partner. It was strange to have Granny, Snow, and even Ruby encouraging her to go back to the man they had once known as the Dark One.

“Hello, Rumpelstiltskin,” she said politely, barely noticing Ruby walking away, encouraging both Jefferson and Grace into the diner for hot drinks. “How are you?”

“How am I?” He almost laughed though it was a painful sound that escaped his lips, making smoke in the cold air. “I am... at a loss, Belle,” he admitted sadly. “I spent my whole life on a quest to find my son, and I will never be sorry for that, but along the way... it was you who truly saved me.” He smiled. “You are as important to me as anyone, Belle, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I didn’t make that plain to you.”

Belle could feel tears pricking her eyes and dreaded them falling, sure they would freeze to her skin in such cold, but then she suddenly didn’t feel as if she were really all that cold at all. Rumpel’s words and intense gaze seemed to warm her from the inside, and when his hand reached for hers, the feeling only grew.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he told her, just above a whisper. “You know I do.”

There was nothing she could say to that, nothing at all. She didn’t even have the voice to reciprocate, though she felt it all so strongly. Belle just pushed herself forward into Rumpelstiltskin’s arms and laid her lips on his own, pouring every ounce of emotion into the moment. Rumpel’s arms wrapped around her, and it was as if the sun was suddenly beating down on the couple, despite the fact it was just as cold yet, and snow had once again begun to fall. Maybe life, like winter, didn’t have to be so bleak and lonely after all. It seemed perhaps spring might come early this year.


End file.
